Fleet vehicles are groups of vehicles owned or leased by a business or government agency, rather than by an individual or family. Typical examples are vehicles operated by car rental companies, taxicab companies, public utilities, and police departments. In addition, many businesses purchase or lease fleet vehicles to deliver goods or services to customers, or for sales representatives to travel to clients.
Fleet vehicle operation and performance are typically monitored to insure the vehicles and fleet are operating safely and efficiently. Although the fleet owner may have a maintenance department, the vehicles are often operated by several drivers, subjecting them to accelerated wear. In addition, drivers often do not exercise the same care for fleet vehicles as they might for their own personal vehicles. Fleet vehicles may also be subjected to unusual conditions such as 24-hour use or excessive cargo weights, and may be kept in service until they have accumulated hundreds of thousands of miles.
Various sources of information are used to monitor fleet vehicles, including, for example, fuel purchase and odometer information. Modern fuel pumps and service stations typically employ elaborate point of sale devices with sophisticated control electronics and user interfaces that have touch pads/screens and displays. The devices are used to capture data and provide the data to business owners. The data collected at the point of sale sometimes includes the amount of the expenditure, the identification of the driver and vehicle, the odometer reading, the identity of the fuel or vehicle maintenance provider and the items purchased. Companies are better able to manage their vehicle fleets and control costs based on the data collected.
A company is, however, only able to effectively manage its vehicle fleets and control costs if the data that is collected is accurate. A company may make suboptimal decisions if vehicle users enter inaccurate information. A vehicle user may enter inaccurate information through, for example, simple error or because they are using the vehicle for unapproved business purposes or using a company fuel charge and for inappropriate reasons (e.g., using a fuel card to pay for fuel for both a company vehicle and an unauthorized vehicle).
A need therefore exists for improved fuel and vehicle monitoring methods and systems.